Martin S1 Owners: strings

Astein2006

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As I understand the S1 comes stock with m600’s for obvious reasons. Is that the string choice you’ve stuck with or what other strings have you used and like better? What are you experiences?
 
I like M600 on most any Martin sop. If a sop is brighter than I like, I'll go with Worth Browns. Some folks like Aquila Nylguts on theirs. Easy enough to try other strings if the Martins are lacking something to your ears.

Do you own one? If so did you stick with the m600’s?
 
The M600 seem to work well on my S1. Not a direct comparison but the T1K I once had sounded better with Worth Brown BT strings. Maybe the difference between mahogany and koa.
 
I just got my S1 in mid-January. It's a 2012 model and I bought it used. I wasn't sure about the age and brand of strings that were installed, so NUD consisted of me putting on a fresh pack of M600s so I could in-effect 'reset' to factory settings.

I have a bit of SAS (string acquisition syndrome) so I rotate strings regularly, but the M600s stayed on for over a month. I like fluorocarbons, so I've used the M600s on several of my ukes with great results--I like them better than the D'Addario Fluoros. They sounded great on the S1, and set a good baseline for me.

My current set is PHD Soprano/Concert High G--the PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) strings by Jason Arimoto. I didn't have any 'ah-ha' moment that they were drastically better in sound, but I've noticed some difference in feel. They are lower tension than fluorocarbons and feel "softer" on the fingers—conveying the feeling of the lower tension combined with the relatively thicker strings in comparison to the finer fluorocarbons.

That's the extent of my experience so far, but I look forward to hearing from others on their experience. Of course it may feed my SAS.
 
I just purchased a used S1 and I love it. It came with Worth Browns and with these strings the sound is loud with a lot of punch. I'll stick with these for now, and when its time to change, who knows what I'll choose. Maybe M600's. Living Water, Worth Clear or stick with Worth Browns. Nah, I'll try something new!
 
Mine is currently with the Martin Premium Graphite Gray Polygut M605.

I always had the M600 on S1. Tried many other strings, and always ended taking them off within a day and went back to M600.

Until the M605. I didn’t like it at first. In fact hated it. Mostly due to the tactile texture which is kind of rough especially when doing slides. But somehow, I let it settle in for a week or so. Then it grew on me. Once I gotten used to the texture, I felt my S1 sounds better with it than with the M600.

It’s like an enhanced M600 with the same Jangle and loudness. And it comes with better individual note sound. With the M600, I felt it’s a bit 1 dimensional or hollow? But now it’s full. Sorry, I’m bad with the description. Sustain is about the same.

So I guess the folks at Martin know what they are doing when the higher end martin ukes now come with the premium polygut strings out of box.
 
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Mine is currently with the Martin Premium Graphite Gray Polygut M605.

I always had the M600 on S1. Tried many other strings, and always ended taking them off within a day and went back to M600.

Until the M605. I didn’t like it at first. In fact hated it. Mostly due to the tactile texture which is kind of rough especially when doing slides. But somehow, I let it settle in for a week or so. Then it grew on me. Once I gotten used to the texture, I felt my S1 sounds better with it than with the M600.

It’s like an enhanced M600 with the same Jangle and loudness. And it comes with better individual note sound. With the M600, I felt it’s a bit 1 dimensional or hollow? But now it’s full. Sorry, I’m bad with the description. Sustain is about the same.

So I guess the folks at Martin know what they are doing when the higher end martin ukes now come with the premium polygut strings out of box.

Now this is interesting. I have heard of these strings but not much else. Very intriguing. I’ll be ordering from Mim soon and might have her set it up with the 605’s. I have two other sopranos( 60’s Style O and Ohana sk-39)Martin with m600’s and one with Browns. I like them both for different reasons but the m605’s sounds like they may do the trick as they say. Thanks for the suggestion
 
No real reason to switch off from the Martin fluorocarbons. The M600s are excellent on the S1 which, in my opinion, shines with the clear and crisp sound of fluorocarbon. The aforementioned Martin premium strings are worth a try as well if you can stand the feel of them (I couldn't). They take the edge off of the incredible jangle of the S1 ever so slightly while still sounding jangly enough for a soprano. Other popular fluorocarbons, like Worth or Living Waters, work very well also, especially clear strings.
 
No real reason to switch off from the Martin fluorocarbons. The M600s are excellent on the S1 which, in my opinion, shines with the clear and crisp sound of fluorocarbon. The aforementioned Martin premium strings are worth a try as well if you can stand the feel of them (I couldn't). They take the edge off of the incredible jangle of the S1 ever so slightly while still sounding jangly enough for a soprano. Other popular fluorocarbons, like Worth or Living Waters, work very well also, especially clear strings.

I suppose I should give the m600’s a chance before switching out. Thanks for the input
 
M600 set works well; too good to change, IMO.
Greg

Ok well another vote for the m600’s. I will wait and give them a good tryout before trying another set. Apparently these are made for this Uke.
 
Both of the Martin strings are really nice. I agree that the new premium strings, which are less familiar are also really good strings, just a slightly different flavor.

Of others people have mentioned, I can also vouch that Living Waters, and both clear and brown Worth strings are really nice.
 
I suppose I should give the m600’s a chance before switching out. Thanks for the input

Ah, if you have never play an S1 with the M600, I’d suggest you keep it on. The S1 and M600 is a very good match and can be set as a reference point if you wish to change the strings for a different taste in the future.
 
The folks at HMS just did 54 short clips comparing strings across three different sizes of Kanile'a and Koaloha ukuleles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr0h0FeOQP4

At the end, they comment on it and it's clear they all have different ideas about what they were playing - not just what they liked, but also the different, and almost opposite words for what they heard. So, buy a few of what was mentioned above and try them all. I also like the idea of using the M600 as your reference point.
 
I've owned my C1K for a little more than a year. When it was time to swap out the M600s, I tried the polyguts. I like 'em. A lot.

My vintage Martin sop has Worth Browns, also nice.

The polyguts seem to have slightly less tension than the M600s but lose none of the precision.

Of course, YMMV.
 
I've owned my C1K for a little more than a year. When it was time to swap out the M600s, I tried the polyguts. I like 'em. A lot.

My vintage Martin sop has Worth Browns, also nice.

The polyguts seem to have slightly less tension than the M600s but lose none of the precision.

Of course, YMMV.

How were the poly guts different in terms of sound? I’m not concerned with feel. I come from a guitar background so I’m used to tension and the strings biting into my fingers. I also have a vintage Martin style O with m600’s which it sounds great with. But I’m sure it would sound great with anything on it. But I’m curious on the poly guts in regards to real world sound differences. Especially from you who has had experience with both the m600’s and polyguts on the same instrument.
 
I've owned my C1K for a little more than a year. When it was time to swap out the M600s, I tried the polyguts. I like 'em. A lot.

My vintage Martin sop has Worth Browns, also nice.

The polyguts seem to have slightly less tension than the M600s but lose none of the precision.

Of course, YMMV.
By the way what’s on your sk-28? I have an sk-39 with browns.
 
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